The Links at Lakehouse

Lots of the past reviews have talked about course improvements, I do not see them. I have played this course a lot and as honest as possible it is in bad shape. The money the new owners have all seams to have gone to the hotel. The Greens of the course were so inconsistent there was not point in reading the greens. The only thing they did was add a 1/4 inch of new white sand in the traps, they look nice but play the same as the old traps. Overall, its the same as Lake San Marcos.

Despite a San Diego cold day (59 degrees at noon), my twosome again enjoyed this pretty course. We had a slow group ahead of us, but who cares you're playing golf on a Wednesday! We finished 18 holes in 4 hours 20 minutes and arranged a tee time for the following week.

Course is very good for the money. Staff is awesome and the greens in GREAT shape. For the area. Definitively one of the better courses.

This course shows it history well. A great older club house well kept but on the rise with new owners
Great deals on good food now the course
It is also on the rise . New carts
Good greens
Fairways a little dry . (No rain in Jan)
Lots of tree trimming going on to open up view and shots
Plenty of challenge to keep all golfers busy
Friendly staff good value Recommend you play

Really short mainly for seniors. A few challenging holes but most are short and straight

Pace of play a little slow for a weekday. May need to stagger the times a little more. Sensed some friction from the members. Could use reminders we in the public are keeping their club open. Didn't like being yelled at while the nice hot dog girl brought out our stuff. We weren't in the their way from approaching the green. Isolated problem I suppose, but will come back as everything else was satisfactory or above.

For a budget minded golfer its a decent deal. The fairways need work for sure.

Greens are the clubs major defense with a few of them being silly in terms of pin placement. Medium and long putts that go in are more luck than skill.

The undulations in the greens really don't make much sense and a couple of the greens leave you scratching your head.

If the fairways were not bare it wouldn't be too bad, but based on pace of play, fairway conditions, and absurdity of the greens I wouldn't play there again.

Food in the bar/restaurant was good.

This course had very fast, well maintained greens. The firways and rough were a bit spotty, and could use some work. Overall this course was challenging, and I would surely return again to play.

Over booked. A little over 3 hours to play 9 holes. Better spacing or management of the bookings. Beautiful course, will return to play another day just hope they space the foursomes out better. $34 for 18 holes at a 4 to 4.5 hour pace is a great value.

Easy to see the investments made over the last year, every time I come back things are a little better.

Greens are fast and true fairways in nice shape good value for the money

Also, known as the Lake San Marcos Country Club Course...at least that's what I found...
I enjoyed this course even though it was nestled within a community and had those tight holes with houses on either side.
The day of I was paired up with another guy, which was cool because it may have been more challenging to find my way around if I wasn't with someone who had played the course before.
Another thing we experienced the majority of the round was the greens reading one way and doing something totally different. This was my first time playing the course so I could always use that excuse, but the both of us were getting the same reads and yet the line/speed would do the complete opposite.

This was just a nice course that, while a little tricky on certain holes had nothing very special about it. It was very helpful to have a guy that knew the course well, give the rest of us very valuable hints on the tricky holes. The "Hilltop" signature hole was nice but aside from it, nothing else was memorable. Because it was somewhat out-of-the-way, at $39 for mid-week rate, this was at best a fair and reasonable price for this course. By the way, the snackbar was closed even though it was a rather busy day.

The change in management has allowed an inflow of cash for badly needed improvements. Greens were still healing from aerification 2 wks prior. The 2 - putting greens were in better condition than the actual course.

Greens were a little bit bumpy and didn't hold a true line when struck properly. Good speed just inconsistent. Another 2 weeks and they will be just fine with excellent speed and true rolling, hopefully.

Fairways/roughs were improving; some drainage work on the front 9 but areas marked GUR (Ground Under Repair). We were rolling our balls in the fairways and roughs about 50% of the time.

Tees boxes are very small and a little worn in spots. On the back 9, many of the blue/white markers were at the same yardage to save wear & tear.

Difficult to determine actual yardages as the "NEW" carts are not equipped with GPS. No yardage on sprinkler heads either but red, white & blue fairway plates in fairways although difficult to see. Highly recommend a hand laser/GPS rangefinder, (I used my phone's Mobitee Premium). Flagsticks are equipped to flash back laser readings which is a nice touch.

Marshals kept the pace moving. Not overly stern but polite to help search for errant balls and ask if everything is OK. Took our foursomes about 3 hrs 45 minutes to play. Little to no waiting unless you have a bomber in your group. Short Par 4's and second shot Par 5's might experience some delays.

It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the 80's. We worked up a thirst but sadly, NEVER once did the mobile concession cart appear on this FRIDAY afternoon. Highly recommend bringing/smuggling your own water bottles/beverages as you will need it. Or just wait until after you played 9 and hit the concession stand. Reasonable prices with limited selection.

Driving range is mat only while tee expansion is ongoing. There are target on the range but the exact yardages is anybody's guess. The mats actually are of superior quality for those that hate hitting off mats.

Bottom line... be patient. This course is going to be a North County "FAV" come 2014.

The new owners are trying to return some playability to the course after years of neglect. Bravo! But it will be awhile before they can do some of the work needed. There are too many places on the course that still need attention. Some serious thought needs to be given to making some fundamental design adjustments too. The original designer made a mess of a couple of holes. Overall, it is worth the price but has so much unrealized potential!

Little crowded, but the course is nice and well maintained

St. Marks is making a lot of improvements. The carts are new and nicer (NO GPS). Free tees, 2 waters. Lots of watering everywhere and tee box and bunkers improvements. Worth the usually afternoon $29 but I found a hot deal for $20. Unfortunately the nice lady in the pro shop tells everyone to start whenever and I ran into two groups of 5 who were horrible players from the whites but they let me play through.

I tried this course after hearing about all the good changes made since it had been Lake San Marcos. Having never played it regardless of its name, I was curious about what I would find.

First, the staff was really friendly and helpful. I played on a Saturday early afternoon and the place was really busy, but I started on time. The course is fairly wide open--tough to lose a ball. A couple of really interesting holes and a really tough, sharp dog-leg 550+ yard, uphill par 5. From the whites.

Fairways were okay--typical for the area. Greens were super-hard and super-fast. Had a hard time keeping the ball on the green. Missed four-foot downhill puts ended up twelve feet on the other side.

Biggest downside was the pace of play. 5+15 is too long. Second, was the lack of yardage markers. A few on the sprinkler heads, but seriously scarce otherwise. People were walking all over the fairway trying to find them which slowed pace of play. How much can some PVC pipe and paint cost? Finally, no water on the course. It's almost a safety issue on hot days. OTOH, the cart girl made it past our group several different times.

I'd rate it as average for the area...which I guess is an improvement over what it was earlier.

First time playing this course. Very challenging and super excellent greens!

The last time I played, a few months ago, the course needed maintenance. Today, other than a few sand traps that need attention, it was in excellent condition.